Lawyer ridicules brainwashing, slavery claims

The lawyer of a man accused of keeping a slave in his garage yesterday attacked prosecution claims that the alleged victim was brainwashed with techniques similar to those found in concentration camps.

"No one's called any evidence about what happens in concentration camps," said barrister Nick Papas, for Warrnambool man Graeme Slattery.

"It's a great piece of oratory but does it help you or is it part of that cunning oratory that barristers sometimes use?" Prosecutor Peter Faris, QC, made the concentration camp comparison during his closing address on Wednesday, saying Slattery had destroyed the woman's identity, replaced her name with the label "toe-rag" and forced her to have it tattooed on her body.

As he began his closing address, Mr Papas urged the jury to examine each of the allegations put against his client and ask themselves whether the woman was being truthful.

The woman says she was kept as a slave by Slattery between 1996 and 1999, including a 12-month period when she lived in the garage of his Warrnambool family home. She alleges she was raped, beaten and psychologically degraded by the 42-year-old boat builder, and that some of these abuses occurred in the presence of his wife and children. She also alleges Slattery forced her to eat his faeces, urinated on her face and subjected her to daily physical abuse.

The trial is being heard in the Ballarat County Court, where Slattery faces 63 charges, including 17 counts of assault, 10 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During the trial, the woman has told the jury she could not escape from Slattery because she feared he would harm her or her family. But Mr Papas said she often travelled to Melbourne alone and on one occasion went on a trip to Queensland to inspect a boat for Slattery. He said he could not recall any concentration camps where inmates were given trips to Queensland.

"How likely is it that she would have stayed, did not avail herself of her myriad of opportunities to take off, if what she said is the whole truth?" he asked the jury to consider.

Earlier, Mr Faris had told the court Slattery was a con man who used his powers of persuasion to hoodwink police and medical staff about the woman's situation. He said on one occasion, neighbours had called police when they saw the woman doing naked cartwheels on the road and witnessed Slattery wrestle her to the ground and kick her. When police arrived, Mr Faris said, Slattery told the woman to assure the officers that she was fine.